When Police Chief Howie receives an anonymous letter
reporting the disappearance of a young girl, he travels to the remote island of
Summerisle to investigate. Upon his arrival, he is startled to discover that no
one, not even the missing girl’s mother claims to know her. The devout
Christian detective soon discovers that the community of Summerisle is one of
wanton lust and pagan blasphemy and time is against him as their May Day
celebration draws closer, bringing with the promise of music, dancing, and human
sacrifice.
An intriguing mixture of folk musical, murder mystery, and horror, The Wicker Man, which has since had a
remake made starring Nicholas Cage, is a different sort of classic in the
horror genre. Whilst the religious theme has had a bit of a resurrection since The Exorcist (which I do realise was
made after this movie), The Wicker Man,
rather than going in for possession and all that jazz is a film that depicts
what happens when politics and religion butt heads as well as what when happens
when two different faiths collide. Not so much a real scary movie, rather a
disturbing and slightly distressing film, it nevertheless keeps its audience
enthralled by its fusion of genres, its interesting characters, and shock twist
ending.
When Police Chief Howie receives an anonymous letter reporting the disappearance
of a young girl, he travels to the remote island of Summerisle to investigate.
Upon his arrival, he is startled to discover that no one, not even the missing
girl’s mother claims to know her. The devout Christian detective soon discovers
that the community of Summerisle is one of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy and
time is against him as their May Day celebration draws closer, bringing with
the promise of music, dancing, and human sacrifice.
A small budget British
movie, The Wicker Man is a classic
example of how less is more and the power of this movie comes from its writing:
the story, the characters, and ideas that it puts forward. Whilst there are no
180-degree head spins or bloody spider-crawls backwards down the stairs, this
movie is not without its fair share of disturbing images including, of course,
the climactic reveal of ‘the Wicker Man’.
The film’s more horrific scenes as
well as intense moments in the detective story are broken up by folk songs sung
by the locals, a ploy that I found very intriguing, as it’s not something you
see every day. Whilst the songs are either erotic, inappropriate, or downright
eerie, they serve to provide a breather for the audience in between bouts of
new knowledge acquirement and progressions within the story. The central
conflict of the two religions is also a comment on what happens when the modern
butts heads with the archaic and there are some beautiful and disturbing images
and similarities to Greek mythology that bring further substance to the film. Seriously,
for a small movie, there is so much
that you can take away from this!
Starring Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento,
Britt Ekland, Ingrid Pitt, Lindsay Kemp, Russell Waters, Aubrey Morris, Irene
Sunters, Walter Carr, Ian Campbell, Leslie Blackater, Roy Boyd, Peter Brewis,
Barbara Raffery, and Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, The Wicker Man is a fascinating and thought-provoking movie filled
with mystery, drama, suspense, eroticism, horror, and comedy. Despite its lack
of any real bloodshed or other horror movie perks and clichés, it’s still a
film that will haunt you for a while.
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